Reignition means for combustion heaters



Feb. 12, 1952 T. s; BRISKIN 2,585,221

REIGNITION MEANS FOR COMBUSTION HEATERS I Original Filed Dec. 21, 1942 F? J 7 -272 F? 5 Patented Feb. 12, 1952 REIGNITIQN MEANS FOR COMBUSTION HEATERS Theodore S. Briskin, Santa Monica, Galih, as-

' Signor to Excel Auto Radiator Company, Ghicage, 111., a corporation of Delaware Original application December 21, 1942, Serial No. 469,668. Divided and thisapplication May 3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in re-ignition means for combustion heaters.

Combustion heaters are generally provided with a sealed combustion chamber in'communicationwith a suction line. A mixture of gasoline and air is drawn into the combustion chamber and meansare, provided to ignite the mixture as it passes. into the combustion chamber. The combustion chamber is generally provided with radiator fins and'blower to eifect proper heat exchange.

"Two separate ignition means are generally provided, one being a spark plug to effect ignition initially, and the other being a refractory member which, when heated to incandescence, serves as a re-igniting means, and permits the spark plug circuit to be turned off. In other words, the flame is generally self-sustaining, but when momentary flame failure occurs, re-ignition is effected by the refractory member, except during an initial starting period during which it is brought up to ignition temperature, and during this starting period, a spark plug performs'the ignition. Such refractory member is referred to as a re-ignition means or device.

It is an object of my invention to provide a re-ignitiori means comprising a refractory member of improved design which provides greater surface contact with the fuel mixture than that provided by prior art devices, and which also serves'to break up the gas passing therethrougha'plurality of separate streams, thereby providing more complete combustion.

Afurther object of my invention is toprovide a refractory re-ignition means having a longer life than'the prior art devices. In this connection, I have found that a laminated structure is less subject to cracking and will result in a much longer life for the refractory member.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved refractory member which provides a hot spot on which unvaporized droplets of fuel may impinge in order to cause vaporization thereof, before passing on to the zone of combustion.

Various other objects, features and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

References hereby made to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which a preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated, like reference numerals referring to like parts:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken along line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the re-ignition means shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustrating the mane ner in which the re-ignition means maybe used.

With reference now to the drawings, the reference numeral It] designates generally the ref-ractory rewignition means. it comprisestwo'discs ii and E2 of refractory material which are po si tioned side by side. The disc I] is provided with a circular perforation I3 and is'undercut pripherally to form an annularcavity as; indicated" by the reference numeral It. The disc: I2 is provided with a plurality of peripherally arranged perforations I5 to form passageways communicating with the cavity i4.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of; a portion of a combustion heater which shows the manner in which the refractory re-ignition m ansifiay' be used. The portion of the heater shoxvncomprises a boss 29, into one end of which is screw threaded a tube 33 which forms a combustion chamber 35. The boss 20 is drilled te -receive an inlet tube 24 which extends into a larger cavity formed within the boss, which cavity'may be referred to as the ignition chamber 25. A heat resistant cup-shaped member 26, the closed end of which is perforated so as to provide a bafile 21, is fitted into the re-ignition chamber. Refractory] reignition means Ill is positioned adjacent the open end of the cup-shaped member 26. The bore in the boss 20 is threaded as indicated at 32 to receive the tube 33 which confines the cup shaped memberze and the ignition means I ll ln' position.

A spark plug is mounted in the wall of the ignition chamber 25 so that the carburetted gasoline which is drawn into the ignition chamber may be ignited. The burning mixture then passes through the passageways in the discs H and I2 and further combustion takes place in the combustion chamber 35. After combustion continues for a short period of time, the refractory discs H and I2 become heated to the state of incandescence so that the ignition provided by the spark plug 65 is no longer needed. Suitable means may be provided for breaking the circuit to the spark plug when this state has been attained. It will be noted in this connection that the combustible mixture in passing from the ignition chamber 25 into the combustion chamber 35 is exposed to heat radiated from all directions due to the undercut construction of the discs II and I2, and some of the heat 2,585,221 I 7 ii Y so radiated is absorbed by the combustible mixture. Furthermore, any unvaporized droplets of gasoline, having a greater inertia than the vapor, will impinge upon the central portion of the disc 12 and will be vaporized before passing through the perforations into the combustion chamber. The construction herein illustrated has been found to form a highly efiicient means of ignition.

It will be noted that only the central portion of the disc I2 will be exposed to the full force of the flame, the periphery of this disc being shielded by the disc I I, which is annular in shape. This shielding effect provided by the ring-shaped member causes less stress to be imposed upon the second disc as it is initially heated up, and sim-,

ilarly the stress on the ring-shaped member is much less than it would be if this member were not perforated centrally and provided with a centrally tapering cross section. Therefore, by using a combination of two discs, it has been found that they break much less frequently than when only a. single refractory disc is used. After the discs have been heated to an incandescent state, the spark plug circuit is automatically opened, and the mixture when necessary is re-ignited as it passes through the refractory discs H and [2.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 469,668, filed December 21, 1942, now Patent No. 2,457,862, granted January 4, 1949, and the subject matter thereof, insofar as it is consistent with this application, is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

Although only a preferred modification of this invention has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention. It is understood that the foregoing is intended to be illustrative only, and that this invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

I claim: 1. In a combustion heater, the combination of means forming an ignition chamber, means forming a combustion chamber disposed adjacent thereto, means for supplyin a mixture of fuel particles and air forwardly into said ignition chamber, and re-ignition means comprising a refractory device provided with a plurality of peripherally arranged passageways, said device being disposed forwardly of said supplying means and separating said chambers, the central portion of said refractory device being unperforated, said refractory device including an annular portion overhanging the entrance to said passageways but not said central portion whereby said particles of unvaporized fuel will impinge upon said central all portion and will be vaporized by contact there with before moving radially outward to the entrance of said passageways.

2. In a combustion heater of the type described, the combination of means formin an ignition chamber, means for supplying a mixture of fuel particles and air forwardly into said ignition chamber, means forming a combustion chamber, and a re-ignition device disposed forwardly of said supplying means and separating said chambers, said device comprising a refractory disc having a plurality of peripherally arranged passageways and a separate refractory ring-shaped member disposed adjacent thereto and overhanging the entrance to said passageways, the disc and ring-shaped member being hollowed out to provide an annular cavity in communication with said passageways and open centrally for communication with said ignition chamber so that as the mixture passes from said ignition chamber into said passageways it will be exposed to radiation from the walls of said annular cavity.

3. In a combustion heater of the type described, the combination of means forming an ignition chamber, means for supplying a mixture of fuel particles and air forwardly into said ignition chamber, means forming a combustion chamber, and a refractory device disposed forwardly of said supplying means and separating said chambers, said device being provided with a plurality 01 peripherally arranged passageways, the central portion thereof being unperforated, such device including a portion overhanging the entrance to said passageways to provide an annular cavity in communication with said passageways whereby particles of unvaporized fuel will impinge upon said central portion and will be vaporized by contact therewith before moving radially into said cavity, the construction of said cavity being such that the radiation from a substantial portion of incandescent surface is directed upon all the mixture as it passes from said ignition chamber into said combustion chamber.

THEODORE S. BRISKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,567,691 Wiederhold Dec. 29, 1925 1,649,218 Gilbert Nov. 15, 1927 1,978,517 Wetherbee Oct. 30, 1934 2,191,178 McCollum Feb. 20, 1940 2,324,010 Meyerhoefer July 13, 1943 

